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SabreMail - Jan. 7th, 2005 |
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One of the best things about the Sabre message boards is their ability to reflect the shifting moods of UVa fans. Take the basketball board. In November, there was cautious optimism, followed by delight when Sean Singletary and the Cavs got off to an impressive start. In December, the mood was mixed as the team struggled but still won four of five games. And now? Well, check out the basketball board for yourself and read the posts. Over the past week, the prevailing mood could be best characterized as resigned negativity. Most fans seem to have lost belief that this team will do well in the ACC and make the NCAA tournament. On the surface, that seems odd, given UVa's 9-2 record and high RPI (13th as of a few days ago). But it also is completely understandable. After starting the season with four blowout wins, including a rout of Arizona, the Wahoos haven't looked the same since. They haven't had an easy victory in over a month. They needed overtime to defeat two unranked teams (Loyola Marymount and Western Kentucky) at home. And they were clobbered by Wake Forest in their ACC opener at U-Hall. They have encountered problems with injuries (Devin Smith, Jason Clark, Singletary) and illness (J.R. Reynolds). Their defense has been lousy. Singletary was schooled by Wake's Chris Paul and hasn't shot well recently. Elton Brown has been dreadful in the past two games. With a foreboding ACC schedule ahead, it's hard to be optimistic about UVa's prospects. But who knows? If Smith returns, if Brown and Singletary get back on track, if Clark and Reynolds keep playing well, if they show some mettle on the road, the mood on the message boards may brighten. If not, the basketball board will still be a good gathering place for frustrated fans. After all, misery loves company, right?
John Galinsky |
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Recruiting News |
This Week In Recruiting By Chris Horne Football recruiting... With the dead period over, recruiting will be in full swing for the final month until the February 2nd Signing Day. UVa is primarily concentrating on keeping its 24 commitments in the fold and appears to be doing an excellent job. Things are looking good with Lamont Robinson, who may or may not make a fourth official visit to a school other than UVa. I think he will sign with the Cavaliers.
Al Groh and Bob Price will be in-home today with Mikell Simpson, the 6-1, 185-pound TB out of Harrisburg High School (PA). Florida is now apparently in the picture with Simpson, who had narrowed his list to Alabama and UVa. He has one official visit available and is interested in making it to Florida. Florida could again be a wild card here, though UVa and Alabama have both been in on Simpson for a long time. In my opinion, Florida would have to impress mightily to jump in the mix with the current top two schools. UVa has a new target on the list in Lincoln (Tallahassee, FL) wide receiver/safety Travis Norton. The 6-2, 170-pound Norton has taken an official visit to Oklahoma and has visits scheduled with Louisville (this weekend), Penn State on the 14th and Central Florida on the 21st. Iowa State and UVa are vying for a visit on the 28th. Stay tuned as news should be flying fast and furious in the final month.
For more recruiting information and updates, please see Sabre Edge.
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News, Notes and Fan Discussion |
Post of the Week Granted, this post is very critical of Coach Gillen, but we don't discourage criticism as long as it's constructive, well-reasoned and civil. This post fits those criteria and it seemed to strike a chord with many readers.
Subject: *Sigh*
Make no mistake: this post is not based on observations culled after a single game played last night. It is based on observations culled during Gillen's entire tenure at Virginia. Well into his seventh season, I don't think anybody can rationally argue that Gillen hasn't had a fair opportunity to build a program, and I don't think anybody can rationally argue that Gillen isn't responsible for the current state of the program. And yes, I realize that we've had to play the last 2+ games without one of the most important players on the team, but come on, folks - we're almost seven years into the Gillen era. We ought to be beyond the point where the loss of one player relegates us to squeaking out home games against LMU and Western Kentucky. No disrespect to those schools intended, but if have aspirations of being an upper-division ACC team, those are games that we should win comfortably. No, this post is based on a lot more than last night's game. It is based on almost six and a half years of empirical evidence which has clearly demonstrated major deficiencies in several important areas of a program. To read the rest of the post and the thread it started, please click the link below.
Wahoos whacked by Wake in ACC opener
None of that mattered. The start of ACC play meant another 0-1 league record for the Wahoos, who fell 89-70 to the No. 5 Demon Deacons on Sunday. UVa now has dropped 10 straight conference openers, including all seven under Coach Gillen. To be fair, Wake Forest is an outstanding team that played its best game of the season, according to WF coach Skip Prosser. Virginia also wasn't at full strength. Leading scorer Devin Smith missed the game with a sprained ankle. But it was still a discouraging performance by the Cavs, whose Nos. 2 and 3 scorers, Elton Brown and Sean Singletary, went 4 for 18 and scored just 10 points. Brown and Singletary also struggled in Wednesday night's game against Western Kentucky, but the 'Hoos still managed to pull out a wild 80-79 win in double overtime. The Cavs overcome a nine-point deficit in the last six minutes of regulation, then won the game on T.J. Bannister's short shot with 2.6 seconds left in the second OT. It doesn't get any easier for Virginia (9-2), which plays at No. 8 Georgia Tech tomorrow night. For the Sabre's story on the Wake Forest game, please see the link below.
For the Sabre's story on the Western Kentucky game, please see the link below.
Women's basketball edges Deacs in OT The Virginia women's basketball team could have made things easy on itself last night. All the Cavaliers had to do was make free throws and they would have routed Wake Forest in their ACC opener at Joel Memorial Coliseum. But the Cavs kept getting fouled, stepping to the line - and missing. They went 26 of 54 on free throws, setting school records for attempts and misses in a game, but still managed to prevail 85-83 in overtime. Siedah Williams scored a career-high 28 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Brandi Teamer scored 21. It was the seventh straight victory for Virginia (11-3, 1-0 ACC), which plays at Georgia Tech on Monday night. For more information on UVa women's basketball, please see the link below.
Staley earns USA Basketball honor Dawn Staley, the most accomplished basketball player in UVa history, capped off her international career in style last year. She carried the flag for the United States contingent at the opening ceremonies in Athens, then led the United States to the Olympic championship, earning her third gold medal. She scored 14 points in the second half of the gold-medal game against Australia. This week Staley received yet another honor when she was named the Female Athlete of the Year by USA Basketball. "This year has been incredible for me," Staley said in a press release. "To win the Female Athlete of the Year award from USA Basketball is special for me, because USA Basketball has been such a great part of my life. It gives me so much pride. This is special, because I know it was done the right way. I don't play to get awards like this, but certainly somebody saw my contributions as something special. When people see me that way, I am honored. I truly am." Will they stay or will they go?
Fortunately for the Wahoos, Ferguson and Blackstock already have indicated that they plan to return for their senior seasons. Brooks also is reportedly leaning toward staying at UVa, while Miller has not made any statement about his plans. Of course, it would be hard to fault Miller for leaving. He just won the Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end and is on schedule to graduate in May. Farrior, Barber make All-Pro team Speaking of the NFL, a few ex-Cavaliers are among the best players in the league. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Farrior and Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber received the most votes at their positions for the Associated Press All-Pro team. Farrior and Barber were teammates for four years at UVa. Both were selected in the 1997 NFL draft and have developed into outstanding defenders. Farrior, who leads the NFL's top defense in Pittsburgh, was named to the first team on 44 of 48 ballots. Only Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and Ravens safety Ed Reed received more votes. Barber got 17 votes at cornerback, two more than Denver's Champ Bailey and Philadelphia's Lito Sheppard. For a breakdown of the AP All-Pro voting, please see the link below.
What's New on TheSabre.com? |
Sabre Edge articles and columns from the past week
The end of the year is always a time for reflection. And for University of Virginia athletics, 2004 was a year of great memories and sad departures. Here we offer our top 10 most notable events of the past year, including the departure of Terry Holland, the death of Doyle Smith, the heroics of Todd Billet, the unprecedented haul of ACC titles, the women's lacrosse national championship and the rise of the baseball program under Brian O'Connor.
Virignia's football season, which started with so much promise, has now ended with many questions to examine in the offseason. Certainly, some of the most trendy areas to attack are the 3-4 defense, the technique of the secondary, Ron Prince's play-calling and the lack of a downfield passing attack. In this article we will look at those areas, as well as how the personnel and coaches performed. Plus we'll suggest some improvements that must be made for the team to compete for an ACC title in '05 and beyond.
Even with Devin Smith, Virginia wasn't going to win a shootout with Wake Forest. Without him, the Cavaliers clearly needed to do several things. They needed to play tough, physical defense. They needed to rebound well, especially on the defensive boards. They needed Sean Singletary to hold his own against Chris Paul. And they needed Elton Brown to come through with a big game. None of those things happened, and the result was an ugly 19-point loss that has to create serious concerns about whether this team will be competitive in the ACC.
If there's one thing Virginia basketball fans have learned the hard way, it's not to get carried away by fast starts. After all, over the past four seasons, the Cavaliers have gone 36-3 in November and December, but 35-47 in January, February and March. So will this season be any different? UVa enters the New Year with an 8-1 mark and a No. 25 ranking. More importantly, this team goes into 2005 with more reasons for optimism than usual. Yet there are just as many reasons to be skeptical. Let's look at five of each... Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week Our resident recruiting expert, Chris Horne, provides updates for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please see the sign-up promotion below. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting. Football
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